What punishment should an Arsonist receive if caught in the act in Australia?

They should be given LIFE - with CONSTANT hard labour and only sufficient rations to exist upon - AND be caged so that people can go and see them and throw rotting veg at them.

That MIGHT just deter anybody else.......

Maybe they should be shown the greif they have caused 1st hand & be not so much known to the public but definatly known to those whose lives they have wrecked.It's difficult to punish an idiot infatuated with a flame.

My two cents:/

Having said that I definately think a lot of prison time & a lighter with some newspaper in a small room.

I live in Australia, and almost 200 people have died in those fires. It is murder. If I was very harsh I would probably support having them burnt alive like the final moments of all the other people they killed, but this is a civilized country, so I would give them the rest of their natural life in prison, or a couple of decades if it wasn't a huge fire.

reinstall death penalty and hard labouring penalties, otherwise we can not stop such serious crimes. I have seen and heard enough of all sorts killing crimes. the criminals just want to challenge or destroy the peaceful lives of innocent people because the criminals know and are always encouraged by that you can not hurt them very much even when you caught them. a few years in jail is just like to study in an uni or to work in the army....and don't worry to make a living any more, a piece of cake indeed......they take advantage of our weak (no, it is soft) laws...

I would say Life - never to be released. It is clear that anyone that does this has some form of disorder and there is a chance that they may do it again, therefore for the long term safety of communities, these people should be imprisoned long term.

Thanks for your wishes, we really do appreciate it. I'd agree that arsonists should be charged with murder - you can hardly argue that they are unaware that people are likely to die in the fires they light.

However I would imagine (without pretending in the least to understand the mind of a firebug) that anyone who can do this must be extremely sick in the head.

Death! No just kidding, but jail time for sure. Arsonists can cause so much pain for so many families, they definitely should be severely punished.

If underage - they should have o reimburse the people whose homes are lost (say 1 million) and that debt should follow them for life until its paid off - no other loans can be taken out - they wages for life are skimmed (like HECS is)

That on top of any criminal charges

yes i agree!

they have not only killed one, but hundredsof people and destroyed the livelihood of thousands.

arson resulting in death is equivalent to a murder sentence. but whoever did this deserves more.

They should receive life imprisonment for the lives their reckless act has taken.

Unbelievably evil.